Chimp attack victim seeks to sue state

Charla Nash, right, is fed a banana by her daughter, Briana Nash, during her hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Connecticut, on Friday.

Photo: Reuters

A US woman whose face and hands were ripped off by a friend’s pet chimpanzee in 2009 came to the Connecticut State Capitol on Friday to ask permission to sue the state for US$150 million in damages.

Charla Nash, who has undergone a face transplant and many other surgeries, including a failed double hand transplant, spoke to the Connecticut General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, her head wrapped with protective white gauze.

“My name is Charla Nash and I’m hoping you can make a decision based on the fact that the state knew what was happening and failed to protect me,” Nash, 60, said.

Her legal team has said that before the attack, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environment Protection (DEEP) had described the illegally owned, 90kg chimp as a serious threat to public safety.

She asked lawmakers to pass legislation overruling a decision in June last year by Connecticut Claims Commissioner Paul Vance Jr that denied her request to waive Connecticut’s sovereign immunity from lawsuits.

“I want the chance to pay my medical bills and live a comfortable life, but I also want to make sure that what happened to me never happens to anyone else ever again,” Nash said.

Nash was at the Stamford home of her friend and employer, Sandra Herold, when Herold’s pet chimp, Travis, attacked her, leaving her blind and disfigured. The animal was shot dead at the scene by a Stamford police officer.

Nash’s lawyer, Charles Willinger of Bridgeport, insisted that his client has the right to have her day in court.

“The facts you will shortly hear — and these are facts that will shock you — demonstrate the failure and omission of a state agency to properly and legally protect the public. What you will hear will be upsetting and appalling,” Willinger said.

Willinger presented the committee with a memo written by state DEEP biologist Elaine Hinsch to her supervisors in October 2008, less than four months before the chimp attacked Nash.

“The animal has reached adult maturity, is very large and tremendously strong. I am concerned that if he feels threatened or if someone enters his territory, he could seriously hurt someone,” Hinsch wrote in the memo. “As you are aware, this is the same chimpanzee that escaped from the owner’s car and led local police on a wild chase for hours in downtown Stamford until the animal could be secured back in the car.”

Members of the 45-member committee seemed stunned by Willinger’s presentation.

“You and Charla Nash have given us a lot to go over,” Connecticut State Senator John Kissel said.

However, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said that allowing Nash to sue the state would “open the floodgates for unlimited lawsuits and liability that would bankrupt the state.”

He urged lawmakers to reject her request.

Nash filed a lawsuit against Herold, who died in 2010. In 2012, a settlement was reached in the amount of US$4 million, nearly the entire amount of Herold’s estate.

The committee has until April 2 to make a decision on whether to recommend to the full state legislature that Nash be permitted to sue the state of Connecticut.

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